


Who’s Behind New York’s Newest Shield?

by raving_liberal



Series: Call Sign [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Future Fic, Gen, Newspapers, Original Character(s), good intentions wip fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27114199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: We reached out to Captain America’s representatives, but they have declined to comment. The Avengers’ attorney would only state that the Shield Maiden values her privacy, but that the public can rest assured that she is adequately vetted, effectively trained, and highly skilled.
Series: Call Sign [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/277368
Comments: 3
Kudos: 16
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	Who’s Behind New York’s Newest Shield?

**Author's Note:**

> Another work that has been sitting in Google Docs for a couple of years. I really wanted to go back and finish the Call Sign universe, but more and more I'm accepting that isn't going to happen. I kept telling myself it would, but I don't know when or how. 
> 
> I'm going to give this one to the [Good Intentions: WIP Fest](https://goodintentionswipfest.tumblr.com/) because it kind of caps off Kat's story. Yes, Kat is Shield Maiden. That's where she was going to end up, and a future Cap-style hero. Plus I like to think Karen Page goes back to writing again at some point.
> 
> Not beta-read.

**Who’s Behind New York’s Newest Shield?**   
_By Karen Page_

She’s a mystery. Most of the Avengers, old and new, have some kind of public face, but the slim and graceful hero known only as the Shield Maiden remains an enigmatic figure. That Captain America was—or perhaps still is—her mentor seems obvious in her choice of weaponry: not a gun, not a hammer, not a high-tech repulsor, but a polished shield, as much a defensive tool as an offensive one. She is, herself, a shield. Many civilians have recounted tales of the Shield Maiden literally throwing her own body between them and danger. If ever a spiritual heir of the great Captain existed, surely that heir takes the form of the Shield Maiden.

What do we know about her? Not much. We know her signature shield, not the red, white, and blue emblem of Cap, but a simple silver dome – or vibranium, we should more accurately state. She doesn't fly. She doesn't seem to shrink or grow. She doesn't exhibit any of the more mysterious and perhaps sinister abilities we have seen in the powered heroes and vigilantes that protect our streets, cities, and nations. She fights with fists and knives, and with that shield, nearly half her size. 

The Shield Maiden’s physical stature is certainly nowhere near the size of her combat prowess. She is small and athletically built, with none of the body-accentuating costume elements we’ve come to expect from our super heroes. We know she is fair-skinned. We know her hair is red; though it’s usually pinned back under her hood, we’ve all seen enough video footage to note the stray red locks hanging around her masked face. More importantly, we know she fights to protect civilians with a fierce determination, frequently at the expense of her own safety. We’ve seen the footage of her limping away from the Invasion of Las Vegas, or the many phone-captured videos of her holding a subway train’s doors open with her own body, her arm hanging at an angle suggesting a severe compound fracture, insisting on getting every passenger off before the explosive device could detonate. She has broken and bled for us. Who could ask for more from a hero?

We’ve heard the darker stories, too. Was she, as mythos has it, the final victim of the former Soviet Red Room training program? Is she the student, or even the daughter, of the infamous Winter Soldier? Was she a child soldier, a child hero, or is that merely a crass fiction intended to steer attention away from her true identity?

We reached out to Captain America’s representatives, but they have declined to comment. The Avengers’ attorney would only state that the Shield Maiden values her privacy, but that the public can rest assured that she is adequately vetted, effectively trained, and highly skilled.


End file.
